Leedsarmy

iTrader: (1)

Hi guys & gals,

I have seen a car that i am very interested in but it is located in Guernsey.

I am told that if i import the car it will need an MOT which presumably is just a case of going to a garage as per with the scoobie (or am i missing something??) and getting it tested, but it will also need registering in the UK.

This is the bit i am unsure of as i have read all sorts of info on here relating to importing about things like model reports etc etc which has confused the hell out of me

The car is a VW Lupo. So how would i go about registering it, is it a fixed cost or does it vary depending on the car or other variables?

Cheers in advance,

JT

mgcvk

Do cars in Guernsey ever get out of 2nd gear? I think there is only one straight bit of road and thats a hill! Can't be great for wear and tear.

Alan Jeffery

I bought a P1 from Guernsey, and it was a right ball ache! The good news was the car was fab.
After my poor Lizzie spent ages getting the paperwork sorted, we just got waved in to the UK off the ferry, and nobody bothered to check anything!
I'll have a word with her in a moment, and find out what we had to do.

Alan Jeffery

Liz said it's best to ring your local vehicle registration office. You'll have to pay import duty and vat on it. Loads of form filling, so the car you're buying had better be really good or cheap or preferably both!

Leedsarmy

iTrader: (1)

Cheers Alan & Liz,

For some reason i thought Guernsey was a part of the EU but now that you've said that i realise it isnt I hadn't bargained on VAT or import duty to go on top of the price so its not quite the deal i thought it was

JT

Removed.

Not strictly true, I've got out of 2nd several times I've NEVER replaced a clutch in my scoobies, in fact I've only ever replaced a clutch in 1 car in 20 odd years, and that was a Suzuki SJ410, and I killed the clutch off roading in Devon.

But there again I only do about 4K a year locally, plus 2-3K on hols in France.

Good points, no speed cameras, congestion charging, wheel clamping. No we aren't a full member of the EU, we are part of the UK, like the Isle of Man and Jersey. And we don't have Gordon Brown in charge

Bad points, lack of choice, cost. And yes that makes moving vehicles to the UK more expensive, since the UK government changed the rules relating to VAT and import duty a few years ago, to stop car manufacturers using the Channel Islands as a back door to bypass import restrictions.

mgcvk

Yeah, a mate of mine got done by a speed camera when he came home last year. As he now has a full Jersey license where the points system does not exist he couldn't be done for it! You are certainly lucky bar stewards in that respect.

jd5217

but having a performance car in Jersey or Guernsey is pointless.

There are upsides to living in the Channel Islands, but also many downsides.....property prices being a major bugbear of mine............hence why we left.

Removed.

True, but having a car anywhere in the UK that can go over 70 is pointless, but how many cars can do that? I bought all my cars, bar the 1st, because I wanted that particular make/model and could afford it.

And yes, property prices are fierce, the average in Guernsey is £308,000 and in Jersey it's well over £400,000.

A 1970's 3 bed in need of a complete make-over, including plumbing, electrics etc is about £375,000 - £400,000.